600e 8s ball link tighness

[theflyingman2]

Hi all, on my new 600e all of the ball links fit very very tight on the balls. I have the compass ball sizer tool, and am wondering how much should i loosen them up.

I already did some and they feel pretty good now.

when i press them onto the balls, 1 of them will pop on, and then keep going without too much force, is the normal, or did I use the ball sizer too much. I have found that 6 complete turns with the ball sizer seems to get it good.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions for me. This is my first "big" electric, and I want to do things right the first time. If I crash i want it to be due to pilot error, not equipment failure lol.

[Aussie_G]

this is one of the area's you will need to get the 'feel' for...

a ball link should require some effort to pop on, should be very hard to remove by hand, but also needs to move freely when rotated/swiveled

Its almost impossible to say 5 turns will do the job, its always best to pop the link on the ball, check to see if its rediculously tight or just a little tight, then judge how many turns...

Its better to pop the link on and off 3 or 4 times than try to get it first time, you will end up with sloppy links that will fall off

[JustPlaneChris]

Also make sure you are putting the ball link on the correct way. They are "one way" and if you size it / install it backwards, it will push to the inside of the ball way too easy.

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by JustPlaneChris

Also make sure you are putting the ball link on the correct way. They are "one way" and if you size it / install it backwards, it will push to the inside of the ball way too easy.

There's a raised ridge on the side that goes on the outside of the ball (away from the attachment point).

I had to size them as far as the included sizer would allow, but YMMV.

[Gregor99]

Originally Posted by TheBum

I had to size them as far as the included sizer would allow, but YMMV.

Does the kit include a ball sizer?

[theflyingman2]

Originally Posted by TheBum

There's a raised ridge on the side that goes on the outside of the ball (away from the attachment point).

I had to size them as far as the included sizer would allow, but YMMV.

haha, great, i sized all of them with the raised edge towards threaded part IE. the rased edge, is closest to the swash plate.

oh well, I already had another set comming for "crash parts" i will just redo them all.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by gregor

Does the kit include a ball sizer?

Sorry. I had the ball sizer that came with my Atom and the Knight uses the same balls and ball links.

[JustPlaneChris]

Originally Posted by TheBum

There's a raised ridge on the side that goes on the outside of the ball (away from the attachment point).

Are you sure about that? Finless Bob indicated the letter goes to the outside, and that puts the raised edge / flange towards the ball. That's the way they seem to work best on mine too.

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by JustPlaneChris

Are you sure about that? Finless Bob indicated the letter goes to the outside, and that puts the raised edge / flange towards the ball. That's the way they seem to work best on mine too.

No, I'm not sure now. Maybe I put them on backward on my Atom.:o I don't remember them being lettered. I haven't done anything on the Knight yet with regard to the Compass ball links (I used Align ball links for my tail servo mod because they're what I had in the way of extras), so I'll check them before putting them on. My Atom doesn't seem to be any worse for wear if I did get them backward.

[JustPlaneChris]

I don't think it matters a lot. When I went through my K3D recently (radio reinstall) I found that some of them had been installed the other way and had several gallons of flight time on them. *shrug*

[Aussie_G]

im with you Chris.. I have put them on both ways many times on several birds and never had an issue

[JustPlaneChris]

I know, it was you who put them on both ways.

[Aussie_G]

yeah - you can blame the next crash on me

[theflyingman2]

haha, confusion i love it.... anyways. thanks for the info everyone. I will leave them how they are raised edge toward part, and let you all know how it goes. my guts for my new 600e should be here tomorrow, or friday. It makes sense to me that it doesn't matter which way you put them on. after all it is on a ball. I think if anything you will wear them out a little faster if you are constantly pulling them on and off. It is just easier 1 way then the other. After all, ive never had to tell anyone that they have their hulahoop upside down.lol

[TheBum]

Since the Compass ball links need significant resizing, it matters less than links that are the right size right out of the package. You still have to make sure you always put them on the balls whichever way you resized them.

[flag8r77]

Geez, after reading this thread there is not a correct answer as to which way the ball links go on. Mine have "compass" written on one side. I am assuming this goes towards the outside of the ball so you can read the writing once it's on?

[TheBum]

I just replaced the ball links on my bellcrank-to-swash linkages and the links do go on more securely with the raised side toward the inside/backside of the ball. I think from now on I'll put them on that way. However, there are places where the base of the ball is countersunk, esp. on the mixer arms; on those, I'm still going to keep the raised side toward the outside of the ball so that I can get ball link pliers behind them.

[flag8r77]

I would think they go on the other way for 2 reasons...the raised side seems to make sense because the ball initially goes into the other end, the raised side does not interfere with the raised edge. Secondly, the raised edge also has "Compass" written on it. Any heli I've built you should be able to read the writing on the links.

Either way I'd like to know for sure as the manual lacks this detail.

[TheBum]

The raised side would be stronger and I would think the stronger side should go on the backside of the ball to keep the link from popping off. But, as I said before, it doesn't seem to matter a whole lot.

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

Mine are on different ways. Doesn't seam to matter, but I'd really like to know the correct way. I have 200 flights on it or so and have replaced 4 link ends due to wear.

Rocket City ball links are the best imho. They are truly universal as to the direction and are excellent quality. Not sure were to get them though. They came with my Bergen.